Modern Ghana comprises the former British colony of the Gold Coast and the former mandated territory of British Togoland. Bordered by the Côte d'Ivoire on the west, Burkina Faso on the north, and Togo on the east, the country is on West Africa's Gulf of Guinea only a few degrees north of the Equator.
A tropical rain forest belt, broken by heavily forested hills and many streams and rivers, extends northward from the shore, near the Cote d'Ivoire frontier. This area, known as the "Ashanti," produces most of the country's cocoa, minerals, and timber. The 537 kilometer (334 mi.) coastline is mostly a low, sandy shore backed by plains and scrub and intersected by several rivers and streams. The climate is tropical. Annual rainfall in the coastal zone averages 83 centimeters (33 in.).
The manmade Volta Lake extends from the Akosombo Dam in southeastern Ghana to the town of Yapei, 520 kilometers (325 mi.) to the north. The lake generates electricity, provides inland transportation, and is a potentially valuable resource for irrigation and fish farming.
